Toaster



v. EMANUEL Jan. 17, 1939.

TOASTER Filed July 6, 1937 l Im/en on of the toaster.

Patented Jan. 17, 1--939 UNITED STATES'- A2,144,485 i 'roas'rnn Victor'Emanuel, Chicago, lll., assignor of `onehalf to Frank J. Cullomer, Chicago, lll.

Application Jin-yc, 1937, serial' No. 152,130

10 Claims.

My invention relates to a bread toaster, whether of a single or multiple type, wherein the heating element is preferably vertically arranged and.

provided with a suitable grill whereby the bread is held in slight spaced relation with the heating 5 element; the slice of breadfbeing supported on end against 4the vertically inclined grill by an yextension or ange at 'the lower pivoted end of the cover or door which constitutes the side wall Toasters of the type mentioned and to which my invention is especially applicable are provided with a cover or door on'A opposite sides thus permitting two pieces of bread to betoasted-at\the same time and these doors are pivoted attheir lower ends and incline inwardly at the top, thus holding the pieces ofl l bread in an inclining manner.

My inventionhas for its object the provision of means whereby inspection of the grill contactv ingV or toasting vside of the bread may be had through the automatic operation of means `whereby an outward tilting lof the upper end of the piece of bread is produced by a. predetermined y degree of operation or openingof the side door sufllcient to enable aproper inspection of the entire inwardly facing side of the bread. A The invention also has for its object the provision of means whereby the inspection position of the toasting bread as well as the delivery, so toasted side downwardly,A of the bread are automatically accomplished by the ksingle operation or opening of the door; the normal position of said means being automatically restored by returning the door to closed position.

vMy invention contemplates control or movement of the bread without the necessity of touching the hot bread before complete toasting of the normally invisible side'or of both sides of the` Vbread has been accomplished. My invention also has for its object the provision of a structure inexpensive in manufacture and constantly positive in operation; the aforementioned objects, as well as others, and the advantages of my invention will vbe readily com-l prehended from the following detailed description of the accompanying drawing, wherein- Figure l is a perspective view of my improved toaster with one side door in complete open position.

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view with-one side door closed and showing apiece of bread in toasting position,V while the other -side door is partly open and illustrating a pieceof toast in inspection position in dotted lines; while the full 55 line position shows the toast at the initial point.-v

of sliding-on the door to drop with'the inner toasted side of the toast downwardly. A The invention contemplates means which will enable proper inspectionl of the toasting side of the breadv to`be had 'and which willalso` ensure 5 Iproper delivery of the toast for use or for return of the reversed piece of bread to toastingA position; the inspecting positio'nof the toast being obtained without complete opening of the door and hence without undesirable cooling of the heating elelo ment. Y

My invention is especially adaptedfor use with 'a well known type of toaster provided with a suitable base l5, two end walls I6, d'6, which'taper upwardly connected to the topv l1, -a suitable 15 heating element i8 vertically arranged between thetop and bottom, substantially at the vertical median line, and two sides i9, i9 which are pivotally secured at 20 to swing downwardlyout ward and below the pivot points 2li as shown. 20

Thelower ends of the doors I9' are flanged at 2l i beyond the pivots 20 and these flanges are arranged substantially at right angles to the doors;

` the pivotal points V20 being so positioned relative to the grills 22 that the anges 2l will not contact 25 the grills when the doors are swung upwardly into complete closed position. The ange portion 2|, t suitably spaced points, is shown provided with a number of loops or rings 23, which are xedly secured to the ange 2| in 30 any suitable manner, as by Welding, and are disposed in a direction transversely and toward the forward or 'outerside of the flange 2l when the door is in open position. The loops 23 are secured adjacent the free longitudinal edge of the flange 35 so as to be disposed above the main portion of the ange, as more clearly seen in. Figure l and thus permit the lower edge of the piece of bread or toast to rest on the main part of the ange and be disposed between the loops and the door proper 4o as shown at the left in Figure 2. With this construction it ls apparent that i Y when the doors are moved to. open position the loops 23 will contact the toast somewhat above the lower edge thereof and thus cause the upper 45' part of the piece of toast to tilt forwardly or outwardly before the door'is in complete-open position. These loops-are so spaced on the flange portion of the door. that they will extend between the-vertically arranged grill 22, but willnot con-v tact 'the heating element I8. C

I provide a toast holding element 24 'at a' suitablepoint intermediate of the lower pivoted end ofthe door and the top of the toaster. This ele-v ment 2I, ln the particular exempllcation of the 55 invention, is in th form of a wire loop whose ends are bent at right angles to the main portion and are pivotally supported on the end walls i6, I B .of the casing as at 25, see Figure 2; the pivotal points vbeing adjacentv the vertical median line of the casing. t

` In thedrawing, the ends of the wire loop 24 are plvotally mounted in the cross-bars 26 which extend transversely -of the end walls i6 ci the casing'and in slight spaced relation therewith and vthe ends of the wire loop 24 extend between the cross-bars 26 and the casing end walls i6. .The ends of the cross-bars 25 are suitably secured at 21 to the casing end walls i6 and thus also provide stops or supports for the wire-loop 24 when the latter swings outwardly into the substantially horizontal position shown at the right in Figures 1 and 2. That is to say, the attaching points 21 of the cross-bars 26 will prevent the element 24 Y' will contact with the upper part of the grill 22 when the doors are closed, at which time the wireloop 24 will be disposed upwardly and be located above the piece of toast, as shown to the left in Figure 2. y

It is to be noted that the grills 22 limit the inward swing of the elements 24, causingthem to be held at a slight inclination becausethe pivotal points 25 are located adjacent the vertical median line of the casing. As a result of this arrangement, the elements 24 will drop or swing outwardly through the action. of gravity as soon as the' doors are opened; in fact, the elements follow the doors in their opening movement, with the result that the elements' 24 will be positioned between the doors and the upper ends of the toast before the loop elements 23 come into engagement with the toast and cause the latter to tilt outwardly intothe toast inspecting position indicated to the right in Figure 2 in dotted lines.

The doors l 9, preferably at both sides, are provided with iianges 28, 28 of predetermined dimensions and 'arranged slightly beneath the upper or free ends of the doors so as to engage and control the elements 24 throughout their outward swinging movement; the flanges 28 being provided with sloping or arcuate ends 29 for guiding .the elements 24 to cause the latter to ride freely thereon. The anges 28 are arranged on the doors so `as to extendv into the path of the intermediate or main portion of the loop elements andare of suflicient length to extend beneath the'plane of the elements 24 when the latter have swung into the maximum outward position shown in Figure 1 in order that the longitudinal edges 30 of the flanges may engage the element 24 when the door is moved vfrom ,open position to closed position and thereby force theloop element upwardly without having it contact the bread or piece of toast T carried by the door as shown in Figure 1.

In operation, the doors I9 are completely opened, as shown in Figure 1, and the pieces of bread placed thereon; the doors are then swung v upwardly into closed position causing the bread to rest on the ledge-or ange 2| of each door in termediate of the loop elements 23 and the doorv proper. In closing the doorsl the flanges 28 on the doors will force the elements 24 upwardly into the position. shown to the left in Figure 2. In order to inspect or ascertain the condition of the toast, the users grasp `the nger grasping portions or lobes 3| and move the door partially outward into the position shown in dotted lines to the right in Figure 2, at which time the element 24 will also be Vswung outwardly where it is in position to hold the upper end of the toast before `the loop elements 23 come into contact with the toast and cause the latter to oe tilted into the position shown in dotted lines. This enables the user to easily see the inner face or toasting side of the toast.- If it has been insuiciently toasted then the door is again moved to closed position which causes the iianges V2li on the door to forcel the element 24 upwardlywithout subjecting the toast toany contact orpressure. ,If` the bread has been suiiciently toasted then the user swings 'the door downwardly to the complete open position indicated in Figure 1 where the free end of the door is in a lower plane than its pivoted end.

During this further outward swing of the door the loop elements -23 will cause the lower end of the toast to move outwardly while the element 24 supports the upper end of the toast as :shown in full lines to the right in Figure 2 which indicates the position of the vtoast just prior to the sliding movement of the Ylower end ofthe toast and just prior to the further lowering'of the door into the position shown in Figure 1, at which time the lower end of the toast will slide toward the free end of the door and thus cause the toasted side to drop downwardly. The door, with the untoasted side of the bread facing outwardly, is then closed and the movement of the respective elements and the actionis as has been heretofore described. 'I'he elements 23 are preferably formed of wire as shown instead of consisting of strips of the same metal as the doors because the strips\ would be, tooY wide and thus leave comparatively large untoasted surfaces'. It is apparent from the foregoing description and the construction as shown that the loop elements 23 perform two functions; first they tilt the toasting breadvout-v wardly at the upper end to permit inspection and then force the lower end of the toast outwardly beyond the vertical plane of the free end of the element 24 so as to induce the lower end of the toast to 'slide on the door and cause an loverturning or reversing of thetoast.

The structure shown and described is a simple and positively acting embodiment ofthe invention, but certain modifications are possible and may be made without, however, departing from the spirit of my invention.

What I claim is:

1. In a toaster of the character described provided with ayertically swinging door pivotally secured at its lower end; means, associated with the door, adapted to contact the inner toasting side of thetoast when the door moves to open position so as to cause the upper end of the toast to tiltoutwardly; and means pivotally'secured to the end walls of the toaster so as to automatically swing downwardly into toast holding posi'- tion, in advance of contact between the first mentioned means and the toast,to hold the toast at an outward inclination when the door moves into open position.

2. In a' toaster of the character described provided witha door pivotally secured at its lower end to swing vertically downward into open position, the lower pivoted end of the door being adapted to support the toast in vertical position duringtoasting operation; means, associated with at opposite .toast and the door the .lower part of the door, adapted to contact the inner toasting side of the toast above the lower end thereof, when the door moves to open position; and gravity actuated toast holding means adapted to swing intermediate of the toast and the door when the door moves into open position, in advance of contact of the iirst mentioned means with the toast, so as to hold the toast at an outward inclination.

3. In a toaster of the character described prov vided with an upright casing, a vertically arranged heating element intermediate opposite sides of the casing and vertically swinging doors sides ofthe casing and pivoted adjacent their lower ends so the upper ends swing outwardly, the lower ends of the doors being disposed inwardly to provide a toast supporting ledge; means associated with the lower ends of the doors adapted to move -into contact with the toast above the lower end thereof after the doors have moved outwardly a predetermined degree; and gravity actuated means pivotally securedto the casing to swing outwardly when the doors are moved to open position adapted to support the toast in an outwardly inclining position before the doors move to complete open position.

4. In a toaster of the character described having an upright casing with vertically swinging doors at opposite sides, the doors being pivoted adjacent their lower ends so their vupper ends swing outwardly, the lower ends of the doors being formed to provide toast supporting ledges; means secured to said ledges adapted to contact the toast above the lower edges thereof after the vdoors have opened a predetermined extent; gravity actuated elements plvotally secured to the casing, adapted. to swing into the path of the toast before the rst mentioned'means contacts with the toast; and means carried by the doors whereby the elements are moved upwardly when the doors move to closed position,

5. In a toaster of the character described having an upright casing with a vertically swinging door; means adjacent door adapted` to support the toast on end position and toalso' contact the toast to tilt the upper end thereof outwardly when the door is opened to a predeterminedextent; and means adapted to move into toast holding position during opening movement of the door so as to hold the toast in tilted position.

6. In a toaster of the character described having an upright casing with an outwardly swinging door pivoted at'its lower end; means associated with the lower end of the door for supporting the toast on end and movable with the door to tilt the toast outwardly during a predetermined movementof the door; 1y secured to the casing to automatically move into toast-holding position intermediate of the during initial movement of the door, the return to normal the pivoted end of the and means pivotalposition of said means being Ainduced by movement of the door to closed position.

7. In a toaster of the character described having an upright casing with outwardly swinging doors pivoted at the lower ends; means associated with the lower ends of the door for support.- ing the toast on end and to induce outward tilting of the toast at a predetermined moment in the opening movement of trolled loops pivotally secured to the casing to swing outwardly during the opening movement of the doors adapted to hold the upper end of the toast in tilted position; and stop means for holding the loops in toast-holding position;

8. In a toaster of the character described having an upright casing anddoors pivoted at their lower ends tojswing outwardly; means associated with the pivoted ends of the doors for supporting the toast on end and to tilt the toast outwardly when the doors have reached a. predetermined point in their opening movement; loops pivotally secured to the casing adapted to drop into toast-holding position during the opening movement of the doors; stop means for `holding the loops in toast-holding position; and means carried by'the doors for moving said loops into inoperative position during closing movement of thedoors.

l 9. In a toaster of the character described having an upright casing with outwardly swinging doors pivoted at their lower ends; arcuate toastengaging elements associated with the pivoted ends of the doors for engaging the inner or toasting side of the toast to tilt the upper end of the toast outwardly whenthe doors have reached a predetermined point in their outward movements; means associated with the casing for holding the upper end of the toast in tilted position, said means moving into toast-holding posithe doors; gravity con-v automatically' operable means adapted to swing between the toast and the door and engage the upper part of the toast for holding the toast at an inclination for inspection, said means being controlled by the door; and means associated with the lower end of the door adapted to tilt the upper end of the toast outwardly into contact with vsaid first means .at a predetermined moment in the opening movement of the door and to force the lower end of the toast outwardly beyond the vertical plane of the upper end thereof during the further opening movement of the door beyond said predetermined moment.

' VICTOR EMIANUEL.n 

